Saw IV
Saw IV is a 2007 Canadian-American horror film and midquel to 2006's Saw III and the fourth installment of the Saw franchise. It was directed by Darren Lynn Bousman and written by newcomers Patrick Melton, Marcus Dunstan and Thomas Fenton. The film was released in North America on October 26, 2007. The film's North American release date followed the series' tradition that the films be released the Friday before or on Halloween of each year. The film continues the story of the Jigsaw Killer and his obsession with teaching people the "value of their own lives". Despite Jigsaw being killed in the last installment, the film still focuses on his ability to manipulate people into continuing his work of trapping people. The story follows Daniel Rigg being put in a series of tests in order to try and let go of his obsession of saving everyone, whilst at the same time attempting to save his partner. Plot During the autopsy of John Kramer (Tobin Bell), a wax-coated microcassette is found in his stomach. Detective Mark Hoffman (Costas Mandylor) is called in to hear the tape, which reveals that he will still be tested, and that the games will continue. The scene cuts to a mausoleum, where Trevor (Kevin Rushton) and Art (Justin Louis) awaken chained at the neck to a winch. Trevor's eyes and Art's mouth are sewn shut, making communication impossible. In a blind panic, Trevor activates the winch and attacks Art, who kills him during the struggle and takes a key from Trevor's collar to free himself. Four days after her death, Allison Kerry's (Dina Meyer) corpse is found by a SWAT team. After cautioning Lt. Daniel Rigg (Lyriq Bent) for breaking through an unsecured door to reach her, Hoffman sends him home. He is then met by FBI Agents Peter Strahm (Scott Patterson) and Lindsey Perez (Athena Karkanis), who were contacted by Kerry before her death. They believe that an unknown accomplice set up Kerry's death, as John and Amanda Young were physically incapable of putting Kerry in the harness. Strahm soon becomes suspicious of Rigg, who has developed an obsession with saving everyone and is convinced that Detective Eric Matthews (Donnie Wahlberg), who vanished without a trace six months before, is still alive. Rigg returns home just as his wife is leaving to be with her mother, and declines her plea for him to accompany her. That night, Rigg and Hoffman are attacked by pig-masked figures. Rigg awakens in his bathroom and learns that Matthews is alive and has ninety minutes to save himself, with Hoffman's fate linked to his. In the meantime, Rigg must undergo his own tests in order to face his obsession and "truly learn how to save a life". His first test is in his living room, where Brenda (Sarain Boylan), a pimp, is chained to a chair and wearing a pig mask. Rigg is implored to walk away, but he accidentally activates the trap by removing her mask and gag, which slowly tears off her scalp by her hair. He succeeds in freeing her, only to kill her in self-defense when she attacks with a knife: she had previously been told by tape that Rigg would arrest her, and killing him was the only way to stop him. While the police and agents investigate the scene, Strahm finds a clue that points towards Jill Tuck (Betsy Russell), John's ex-wife, and she is brought to the station to answer their questions. In the large room where Matthews and Hoffman are being held, a man arrives to oversee their game. Matthews is held atop an ice block by a chain-noose on one end of a large see-saw, while Hoffman is strapped to a chair with electrodes at his feet on the other end. If too much ice melts and Matthews either falls or jumps, he will be hanged and Hoffman will be electrocuted, killing them both. For his second test, Rigg is led to a motel and instructed to abduct the owner, Ivan Landsness (Marty Adams), and bring him to a prearranged trap in one of the rooms. After finding photo and video evidence that Ivan is a serial rapist, an enraged Rigg forces Ivan into the trap and leaves after handing him two controllers. Ivan's test requires that he blind both eyes with blades, but he only succeeds in blinding one eye before the timer expires and the trap dismembers him. Meanwhile, the agents alternate between investigating the scenes of Rigg's tests and questioning Jill, who reveals John's backstory. He was a civil engineer involved with property development, while she ran a clinic to help drug addicts. She was pregnant with their baby, to be named Gideon, and Jigsaw's puppet was designed as a toy for him. Seven months into her pregnancy, her clinic was robbed by Cecil Adams (Billy Otis), an addict she was familiar with, and she miscarried when Cecil slammed a door against her stomach while fleeing. The agents are called to the motel, where they learn that they are the next two targets and that the room was rented out to Art Blank, who vanished two weeks ago. The man overseeing the current game is revealed to be Art when he prevents Matthews from jumping and later gives him a gun. In his third test, Rigg enters an elementary school and finds Morgan and Rex (Janet Land and Ron Lea), a woman and her abusive husband, impaled together by rods in a harness. The rods pass through vital circulatory points in Rex's body, but non-vital points of Morgan's. By the time Rigg arrives, Morgan has removed all but one rod and passed out from shock, her husband long since dead. She wakes up and Rigg pulls the last rod from her body and gives her the key to her harness, telling her she has to save herself. He then finds the location of his final test and leaves, pulling the fire alarm on his way out. The agents learn at the scene that all three dead victims were represented in court by Art, who was also Jill's lawyer. They find Jigsaw's puppet in another room, where a cryptic message is played for Perez before the puppet's face explodes, critically injuring her. After she is hospitalized, Strahm furiously interrogates Jill, now convinced Art is the accomplice. She reveals that John's depression following the miscarriage ended their marriage as well as his partnership with Art, and that after his suicide attempt he began his work testing others. His first victim, Cecil, was to push his face through several knives to press the button to release his bladed arm and leg restraints. The trap collapsed, but Cecil died anyway when he fell into a tangle of razor-wire while attacking John with a blade. Strahm connects her story and a prior clue to the Gideon Meatpacking Plant, the location of Rigg's final test. He arrives shortly after Rigg but ends up trailing Jeff Denlon (Angus Macfadyen), arriving in front of the door to the sickroom just as it seals itself. He unlocks it using Kerry's key and finds Jeff, only to shoot him dead in self-defense when Jeff points a gun at him, believing Strahm to be his daughter's kidnapper. Meanwhile, Art pulls out a small device and explains to Matthews and Hoffman that he can use it to release all three of them when the timer expires. If he tries to do so before then, a pair of pincers locked to his back will sever his spine. Unaware of this, Rigg arrives and breaks into the room with one second left just as Matthews shoots him, which releases two overhead ice blocks that swing down and crush Matthews' head, killing him. A mortally wounded Rigg shoots and kills Art, believing him responsible for the game, and learns from Art's tape recorder that he failed by interfering: Matthews would have lived if Rigg had not gotten involved. Hoffman, the real accomplice, releases himself from the chair and leaves Rigg to die, sealing Strahm in the sickroom before leaving the plant. The scene then cuts to John's autopsy, which took place after the events of the film. Cast *Tobin Bell as John Kramer *Costas Mandylor as Detective Mark Hoffman *Lyriq Bent as Lieutenant Daniel Rigg *Scott Patterson as Agent Peter Strahm *Athena Karkanis as Agent Lindsey Perez *Betsy Russell as Jill Tuck *Justin Louis as Art Blank *Donnie Wahlberg as Detective Eric Matthews *Angus Macfadyen as Jeff Denlon *Dina Meyer as Detective Allison Kerry *Marty Adams as Ivan Landsness *Janet Land as Morgan *Ron Lea as Rex *Sarain Boylan as Brenda *Billy Otis as Cecil Adams *Kevin Rushton as Trevor *Simon Reynolds as Lamanna *Mike Realba as Detective Fisk *Ingrid Hart as Tracy Rigg *James Van Patten as Dr. Heffner *Emmanuelle Vaugier as Addison Corday *Noam Jenkins as Michael Marks *Tony Nappo as Gus Colyard *Mike Butters as Paul Stallberg *J. Larose as Troy *Oren Koules as Donnie Greco Images External links * Category:Films Category:2007 release Category:Saw series Category:Niamh Wilson films Category:Tobin Bell films Category:Shawnee Smith films Category:Donnie Wahlberg films Category:Costas Mandylor films